Nemesis
by vintagetypewriter
Summary: Nemesi "Sully" Sullivan is a Force Adept who is practiced in the art of merging the Force with the body. A rebel with the resistance, her world changes when she falls into the clutches of Kylo Ren, who quickly becomes interested in her skills and abilities.
1. Chapter 1

**New story! This is something I've been working on in my free time just for fun. I don't plan to take the plot too seriously; that being said, I'm sure some details about the Star Wars universe are wrong - if so, you can just correct it in your mind and move on.**

 **The main character's name is pronounced "Nem-uh-see," but she goes by "Sully."**

* * *

Nemesi "Sully" Sullivan was going to kill Poe Dameron. She banished the thought as soon as it crossed her mind, not wanting it to bring bad luck on him. They were, after all, in imminent danger - as per usual.

So, she wasn't going to _kill_ Poe, but she _was_ going to give him a tongue lashing after this was over. It had been _his_ idea to requisition black market weapons from a First Order-occupied planet.

"It's a quiet occupation" He'd insisted, "They won't have more than 200 stormtroopers on planet. And the population on Shaksari is huge. We'll easily slip under the radar."

And perhaps he would've been right...except that it had also been his idea to start prying for information that could help the resistance. Sully had a suspicion that he had been planning it all along and that the 'requisitioning of new supplies' had been his way of getting permission from General Organa to land on Shaksari.

And this was the short version of the story of how she found herself weaving through crowded souks with a gaggle of white helmets bobbing through the crowd close behind her.

"Halt!" The continued to command her. She pushed forward even harder, knowing that they wouldn't open fire into a crowd full of people on a planet that had been submissive in their occupation. They wouldn't want to risk causing riots.

Sully could use a good riot at the moment. A couple of dutiful citizens had attempted to stop her, but she easily slipped under their arms or out of their reach. She ducked particularly low, darting to the right, and by the time her head appeared in the crowd again, she was donning a headscarf, like nearly every other woman standing by. The stormtroopers continued to press forward, and, thankful that nobody nearby had sold her out, she nodded at a few civilians as she ducked into a side alley and took off in a sprint again.

There was an unexpectedly _large_ First Order presence here on Shaksari today. She'd even caught glimpse of what looked to be a general when they were first confronted by their forces. Either something big was happening, or they'd known the resistance was coming. Or, perhaps, Poe had known they'd be here and had planned to be here at the same time. She found that unlikely, though. Poe wouldn't have her unknowingly risk her life. He was impulsive, but he wasn't manipulative. She reached their shuttle and peered around to make sure nobody had found it. When it appeared to be clear, she ran forward and opened the door, quickly sealing herself inside.

"Sully, do you read me? Sully, come in. Sully!" A staticky voice was calling. The woman rushed into the cockpit, pulled on a headset and started flicking switches on the console in front of her.

"Sully here." She intoned calmly. "I'm back at the shuttle and ready to depart. Where are you, Dameron?"

There was a long pause.

"Took you long enough." Poe replied, relief flooding his voice.

"Lost my earpiece," Sully replied simply. " _Where are you_?"

"On the outskirts of Tiksa. The western-most corner." He replied. He'd gotten far. He must've stolen a speeder.

"On my way." She replied, starting up the thrusters.

"They're expecting us to hit the skies, Sul - you'll be shot down." He insisted. Sully rolled her eyes.

"You just don't want me doing anything cool while you're not in the cockpit to take credit for it." She retorted, lifting the shuttle deftly up into the planet's atmosphere.

"Just be careful. Please." He told her, and she could sense the nerves underpinning his tone.

"Copy that."

* * *

Sully wasn't exactly being careful, but she was surviving. She'd been pursued by TIE fighters that she'd ultimately slipped away from and she was now circling around the outskirts of western Tiksa, looking for any sign of Poe.

"Dameron, come in." She growled into her headset for the third time. Now he was the one MIA and she gritted her teeth at the sight of all of the Stormtroopers and First Order officers that seemed to now be in the era. Maybe he'd already run from here, but it looked like a scuffle was happening below, so she doubted it. She landed the shuttle and grabbed her wan-shen, snapping the two pieces of the pole weapon together. She spun it in her hand for a moment, testing the weight and watching the blade shine in the dim lighting. She closed her eyes for a few moments and took a deep breath through her nose, trying to reach a meditative state despite the chaos she was about to enter. Eyes still closed, she reached out and hit the button that released the ramp of the shuttle. When her eyes finally snapped open, the suns of Shaksari were blinding, bouncing off the armor of the approaching storm troopers.

"Long live the resistance." She said clearly and calmly, as had become her custom, before leaping off the ramp and into the fray.

Poe Dameron hadn't been expecting the First Order at to have this many soldiers on the ground. He saw Sully in the distance -he saw telltale signs of the ordered chaos that always ensued whenever she was engaging in combat. She was working her way closer to him, easily cutting down stormtroopers in her path. As she got closer, her calm features came into focus. She went to another place when she was fighting - all of her combat took place in a meditative state - and while she was most lethal in that state, he sometimes worried about how well her self-preservation worked in that mode. He pulled his eyes away from his friend to focus on his own battles, but even just a moment's distraction had been too much. Something made hard contact with the back of his head and everything went black.

Sully's focus was unbreakable - it had to be unbreakable if _she_ wanted to be unbreakable. She barely registered the glancing blows of phaser blasts off her limbs and abdomen as she fought, swinging the wan-shen around with inhuman speed. The phaser blasts wouldn't be lethal as the Force strengthened her body to help her absorb them, but they would leave nasty bruises.

Her focus did break, though, when she saw Poe hit the ground, face-first.

"Poe!" She shouted, knocking down a stormtrooper in her path and rushing to close the distance between her and her friend. The two that had snuck up on him seemed to be the last ones around, but surely there'd be more coming. She took the two stormtroopers down, though not as easily, as her movements had become sloppy in her haste. She dropped to her knees next to Poe and placed two fingers to his pulse, sighing in relief.

"Get up, Dameron. We have to go." She told him, slapping his cheek lightly. "How did you manage to get yourself knocked out? You're above this." She then added, rolling her eyes. Realizing that he wasn't going to come around any time soon and could be in need of real medical help, she summoned as much strength through the force as she could.

"Let's go to Shaksari." She murmured mockingly as she heaved the man over her shoulder. She still stumbled when began to carry him, despite the extra strength the force provided. "It'll be fine. It'll be great."

It took a few minutes to get her partner onto the shuttle, and when she did, she dropped him unceremoniously onto the floor, not having the time to make him comfortable. She stumbled over to the console and switched it into flight mode, initiating autopilot and selecting the destination. She'd have to switch to manual if they were pursued by any more TIE fighters, but she'd deal with that later. She needed to try and wake Poe up. Seeing the reminder light flickering on the console, she hit the button to raise the ramp and seal the shuttle closed. She turned and returned to Poe's prone form, kneeling next to him as the ramp began to raise.

"Come on," she murmured, turning his head gently to feel the back of his head. No blood. That had to be a good sign, right?

Sully fell back onto her butt as the shuttle suddenly jolted.

"What the-" She murmured to herself, watching as the ramp door seemed to stall. She rushed back to the console and slammed her hand down on the button, holding it down. The ramp was clearly attempting to raise, but something was holding it open.

Sully's blood ran cold.

She stepped over Poe's body slowly, scooping her wan-shen back up off the floor. Through the opening of the frozen ramp, she could see a figure cloaked in black standing in the distance, right hand raised in her direction. She immediately began to channel the force, attempting to calm her nerves. She knew that mask. She'd never encountered Kylo Ren before, but she knew enough to know what to expect. She glanced back at the console and then down at Poe, thinking.

If Ren would just let up control of the shuttle, it would still seal and take off, having been set to auto-pilot. Of course, if it auto-piloted all the way back to the resistance base in a straight line, it could lead the First Order back to the others. She'd be banking on the hope that Poe would wake up soon after lift-off and take control of the ship. But it could work.

She just needed Ren to let go.

"Long live the resistance," she whispered to Poe, though her voice was lacking the conviction it'd carried before.

She stepped back out of the shuttle, squinting under the Shaksari suns.

* * *

Sully wasn't sure how her Wan-Shen would hold up against a lightsaber. She'd never actually wielded it against one. She'd crafted it using the force, however, as that was the way of the Matukai, so theoretically, it should hold up against the plasma of a lightsaber. She wasn't eager to try it out but Kylo Ren was closing the distance between them and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to meet him in the middle like a real contender.

"Resistance scum," was all that he deigned to say to her before he took the first swing. His lightsaber was red and distinctive with two smaller blades jutting sideways from the hilt. She wondered briefly how he managed to wield it without hurting himself, and then that was the last musing she allowed herself before she turned her focus completely to the Force. She anticipated his swing and leaned smoothly out of its path.

Her relationship with the Force dealt mostly with combat. There wasn't much she could do that dealt with the mind, but she had an increased intuition that helped her to bond with her opponents enough to predict the moves they were planning to make in the moments before they actually moved. Anyone who didn't know she was a Matukai would just think she was a skilled fighter with quick reflexes.

Ren had stepped forward in his first swing, which meant that when he followed through with a second one, she couldn't outstep it - she held her wan-shen up in a defensive position and prepared herself not to flinch as the lightsaber came down on it. When the two weapons locked, the world went quiet for a moment and Sully stared into the dark visor of his mask, muscles tensed to continue meeting the force he was exerting. It took a few seconds for him to conceive of his next move, which was how she knew he was surprised.

The corners of her mouth turned up in the barest of smirks.

He spun his lightsaber out of the lock and swung down on her harder. In the distance, she heard the _clunk_ sound of the shuttle ramp closing and the _whoosh_ of the thrusters.

It took Kylo Ren about twenty minutes to best Sully, and when he did, it was partly because she saw the arrival of reinforcement stormtroopers behind him and had become resigned to her fate. When he finally knocked the wan-shen out of her hands, she fell to her knees and stared straight up into his mask as he pointed the blade of his lightsaber just under her chin. She could feel the energy rolling off of it in waves.

"Long live the resistance." She said as the reinforcement troops gathered around them, her voice strong. She marveled for a moment at all the opportunities she'd had to say those words today. Then she marveled at the fact that it was going to be her last time uttering it. She pictured Poe waking up in the shuttle and discovering that he'd made it off the planet as the sole survivor of their mission. She felt a sharp pang at the pain he would feel - how guilty he would feel for dragging her along. She regretted giving him a hard time about it.

But he would live. And that was enough. She inhaled deeply, trying hard to focus on the Force.

"Get her onto the ship." The staticky voice commanded, pulling her from her meditation. She couldn't school her expression quickly enough to hide her widening eyes and a dark chuckle filtered through the mask. She dove for her wan-shen and was immediately grabbed by two stormtroopers. She struggled anyway, part of her hoping that they would just execute her - it was not doubt better than whatever awaited her on the Finalizer. It didn't take long for someone to club her in the back of the head and knock her unconscious.

* * *

Sully knew where she was before she opened her eyes. She'd never been one to lose her bearings while sleeping - and, then, of course, there was the fact that she wasn't lying down. When she did open her eyes, she saw what she expected to: she was strapped to some kind of slanted interrogation slab in a room full of tools that would make her wish she was dead soon enough. What she _hadn't_ been expecting was to see the figure of Kylo Ren standing in the corner, watching her (presumably) through the visor of his mask. Didn't he have someone to do this for him?

"Ah, you didn't have to wait up for me." She announced, her voice rasping.

The commander didn't respond; didn't even move. He was trying to intimidate her. No-she realized, a strange sensation washing over her - he was trying to probe her mind. Her mental defenses immediately went up. She hoped that nothing compromising had been pulled from her head when she was unconscious. Likely her mind hadn't been of any use to him once it was 'lights out.' Kylo Ren took a slow step toward her and she followed the movement with her eyes.

"Who are you?" The voice filtered through the mask, intrigued and perhaps a bit put off.

"Asks the man in the mask." Sully murmured, breathing through her nose and attempting to relax the tension in her muscles. It wasn't easy after waking up strapped to a torture board. He didn't respond for the longest time, now standing near her. She hid her surprise when he reached up and unlocked the mask with a _click_ and a _hiss._

She'd known Kylo Ren was young - she'd known his mother for years, after all. But she still hadn't expected what she saw. He looked _so_ young. It wasn't physical, necessarily...it was more something in his expression. His face was supposed to be unreadable, but his eyes held universes in them. And a lot of pain.

"You can't keep me out of there." He said, his voice low and gravelly. She didn't know what he was talking about until a white hot pain erupted behind her eyes. Her face scrunched up in pain and she cried out, focusing every last bit of the Force she could on keeping her mind behinds walls. It hurt so badly - surprisingly, the pain _helped_ her to focus. She wouldn't last forever, though. She reassured herself that this had to be as hard as he could push, otherwise he'd be pushing harder. If she could just keep an equilibrium until he got tired of trying, she would be okay.

Well, she wouldn't be okay. But the information nestled inside her mind would be. After what felt like an eternity, the pain stopped. She felt a head rush as she pulled back her defenses a bit, though not all the way. When she opened her eyes, she found a quiet rage glittering in his.

"You were trained by Skywalker." He said. Sully scoffed tiredly.

"Who?" She asked. He wasn't amused, judging by the sudden, though slight tightening of her windpipe. She'd been purposefully difficult - of course she knew of Skywalker - but now she was thinking she should try again.

"If I _was_ trained by Skywalker, don't you think I would've beat you?"

Damn it. Her windpipe closed off completely and he stepped closer, practically snarling.

"If I were you, I would speak more carefully to the person who's going to choose the manner of your death." He spoke quickly, eying her as she struggled to take in a breath. The pressure released and she gasped loudly, angry that she couldn't control her body's response.

"Tell me how you became a Jedi." He demanded.

"I'm not a Jedi." She immediately retorted. It was so emphatic that his eyebrows shifted closer together a tiny bit, processing the denial. "A bunch of elitist pricks." She added, her throat still rasping from the assault. He leaned back a bit at that and she triumphed in the fact that she had so easily thrown him off.

"You're Force sensitive." He said. "And you've been trained to use it."

While telling him about herself wouldn't hurt the resistance, she wanted to play her cards close to her chest. She didn't have to tell him anything.

"If you were that strong, though, you'd use persuasion to escape." He continued to reason.

"Maybe I'm just waiting for you to leave so I can." She said, keeping unwavering eye contact with him to show that she wasn't going to be easy to crack. "There's more in this universe than Jedi and Sith. You should ask your master about it some time. You have one of those, right? A master?" She added, her tone dripping with condescension. She waited for him to lash out again - was so sure he would. The words clearly affected him. But he simply smirked after a moment.

"Phasma." He called out. Another masked figure covered in silver armor appeared behind him. "She's all yours."


	2. Chapter 2

Sully's own mind was worse than torture.

Of course they'd talked about torture in the resistance. There had been formal discussions about what to do - how to hold out. Then there had been the quieter moments of uncertainty - her asking Poe if he'd ever been captured. How he would prefer to be tortured. What he would do.

Sometimes he indulged her, but often he would try to steer her attention to something else. He knew almost as well as she did how her brain worked. Though, that wasn't really saying much.

Sully had always struggled with uninvited thoughts. Not evil or anything. Just...unwanted.

When Phasma had finished her methodical punishments, Sully tried her hardest to meditate - to empty her mind. It was the one thing that always held her back in her force abilities - the art of not thinking.

She knew that Kylo Ren could attempt to probe her mind at any time, whether he was in the room or not, and she didn't want to give him anything. But she couldn't keep her barriers up all the time - which meant she needed to control her thoughts. But the more she tried not to think about thing, the more those things she shouldn't be thinking about popped into her mind.

Don't think about the location of the ship.

Don't think about the Skywalker rumors.

Don't think about the next mission.

She strengthened her walls.

* * *

The other problem that she ran into was that she couldn't let herself fall asleep and risk revealing something. Sleep deprivation wasn't anything new, but it also meant that every time she passed out from pain was a risk. So, when others would be praying for the sweet release of unconsciousness to force a stop to all the misery, she was gritting her teeth and hoping against all hope that she would stay awake.

And so it was that her own mind was inflicting the true torture - and every moment without rest, it just got worse. She didn't know how long it was before Kylo Ren came back to talk to her again. When he entered, his mask was already removed and his expression was smug and self-assured.

"I hear you've been awake for a while." He said, eyeing the bloody tools on the table dispassionately.

"Sorry to disappoint." She murmured, thought it was lacking her usual fire.

"Resistance to sleep deprivation." He continued. "Is that something you learn in Matukai training?"

So he'd been doing some research. She didn't answer.

"Your mind," he continued. "It's noisy."

"You're telling me." She replied, trying to keep a poker face. When he didn't respond right away and continued to study her sweaty face, she realized something. "Noisy, but indiscernible, huh?" She continued, smirking. "Now _that_ is something I learned in training."

He wasn't pleased.

"Matukai." He mused. "Master of her body...but not of her mind."

"And yet you still haven't made any progress." She challenged back.

"Can you heal, too?" He asked, studying her body analytically.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear." Sully responded, schooling her expression. A triumphant smirk tugged at his lips.

"I thought so." He replied. "And what brings a Matukai to join the resistance?"

"Truth." She answered forcefully. "And justice."

"Whose truth?" He spat back distastefully. "The Jedi's?"

"It doesn't matter." She responded. "Truth is truth."

A quick breath escaped his nostrils and she couldn't tell if it was frustration or amusement.

"And I suppose they've told you the _truth_ about me?" He asked, distaste still written all over his face.

"No." She answered, "Your name doesn't even come up."

The slight purse of his lips indicated that he didn't like that. It wasn't true, of course, but she was enjoying toying with him. He was clearly holding back his ander, knowing that she'd feel victorious if she saw it.

"You'll see the Supreme Leader soon. You should get some _rest_." He told her tauntingly. He turned to walk out.

"Commander, shall I continue?" Phasma asked him, appearing in the door. She was far too eager to inflict pain on Sully.

"Having a bad day, _Phasma_?" Sully murmured, knowing it would irritate her to call her by her name. The thought occurred to her that she shouldn't be provoking the woman who was about to torture her, but she didn't care. The pain would give her something to focus on - channeling the force through her body to help withstand the pain and stitch the fibers of her skin slowly back together.

"Don't bother." Kylo Ren replied, not bothering to look back. "Leave her to her thoughts."

Phasma hesitated, unsure what was happening, but obeyed nonetheless by enclosing Sully back in the dark room, alone. All humor left Sully's face and she couldn't help it: throwing her head back against the plank, she let out a frustrated scream. She didn't see the satisfied smirk on Kylo Ren's face as he continued down the hallway, her scream fading behind metal walls and corridors.

* * *

"Release her." A masked Kylo Ren commanded. He'd been gone a long time again. Snoke must have a pretty busy schedule, Sully thought. She hadn't fallen asleep still, but she'd come close many times - especially without the pain to keep her stimulated.

When Phasma had the stormtroopers release her, she immediately fell to the floor. She'd been prepared to stumble and tried her hardest to stay upright, but she'd just been still too long, and she was just too tired. She gritted her teeth as she stared at Kylo Ren's boots and then grunted as the stormtroopers heaved her back up by her arms. They began to drag her out of the room and down the wall and she struggled, trying to plant her feet.

"I have legs, you know." She growled defiantly. The entire party stopped as she finally managed to successfully plant her feet. Kylo Ren turned back to face them, his shoulders tense with irritation, and nodded at the stormtroopers. They let go of her, and she adjusted herself, following Ren and Phasma willingly with the stormtroopers trailing close behind.

They stopped at a lift and Ren ordered the stormtroopers to stay behind. He pulled his cape back a bit to flash his lightsaber hilt at Sully as a reminder. She followed him and stood between him and Phasma, her head held high.

"Any last words?" Phasma asked, and though she couldn't see her face, Sully could hear the smug satisfaction in her voice. She had a few _last words_ alright. This woman had killed so many people she knew. Had tortured her for…

"How long have I been here?" She asked. If her 'last words' surprised Phasma, she couldn't tell. But she got her own surprise when Phasma actually answered.

"Three days." She said in a bored tone, having deemed it safe to tell her. A secret smile pulled at the Sully's mouth as the lift doors slid open.

She'd held out long enough.

* * *

The resistance was Sully's life - her family. She knew them better than she knew anything else in this world. And she knew there'd be no sign of them by now. General Organa was the shrewdest person she'd ever known. Organa kept track of what people knew - nothing Sully knew was too compromising, and if it was, Organa would have changed the truth of it by now.

The ship would be gone. The next mission would be cancelled. Standard procedures would have been changed. She was useless to the First Order now. It was both a big relief and a big problem.

When they entered the dark room, Phasma stood at attention outside and Ren prodded Sully along. She stopped in her tracks when she saw movement on the other side of the room. The man in the chair was easily three stories tall, looming over them. Ren placed a hand on her back and shoved her forward before forcing her to her knees. She was surprised when he kneeled next to her. She'd never bowed to anybody. Well, until now.

"So this is the rebel Matukai?" the man (though he could hardly be called that) mused. "It has been a long time since we've encountered a Force Adept as strong as you."

She said nothing, but continued to look him in the eye even though she knew she wasn't supposed to.

"Who trained you?" He asked, though it came out more like a command.

"With all due respect, I know why I'm here." She replied, her voice firm and clear. "If you're planning to take what you want, why don't you just try it and we can skip the conversation."

A _whoosh_ sounded out and a red glow caught the corner of her eye. She glanced over to see that Ren had ignited her lightsaber, but wasn't pointing it at her. A warning.

"Very well," Snoke said after a moment, an evil glint in his eye, "if you want to skip to the hard part."

A snarky remark rose to her tongue, but before she could voice it, she felt the slimy tentacles of his mind charge into hers. She cried out and felt the urge to put up her strongest barriers, but she resisted, instead letting him push through easily. He poked around inside her mind for only a minute or two before pulling out. Sully collapsed to the ground, her hair forming a blanket over her face.

"I have all I need." Snoke announced after a moment. He sounded displeased. "She isn't nearly as strong as you made her out to be. Next time, don't waste my time. If you can't even handle a Force Adept, how do you expect to fare against Skywalker?"

"Yes, Master." Ren said after a moment. His voice was clearer now. He'd taken off his mask at some point. Snoke didn't reply, and when Sully peeked through her eyelashes, he was gone.

A projection. Of course.

"Get up." Ren commanded, barely contained fury in his voice. One of Sully's eyes popped open and she smirked spitefully at him. He grabbed her by her bicep and jerked her to her feet. She cringed as he dragged her out of the room, his fingers digging into her arm hard enough to draw blood. She stumbled along behind him, trying to avoid the still-ignited lightsaber that was in his other hand. When the got into the lift, he shoved her against the wall and placed it across her neck. She could feel the heat rolling off of it. She glanced out the doors as they were closing - Phasma must have scurried away at some point. Not that it mattered. She wouldn't be any help.

"Nice try." He told her between clenched teeth. "Making me look like a fool in there. But the joke is on you - the First Order has no use for you now."

"Good." She growled back, her voice deathly serious for the first time since she arrived on the ship. She glanced down at the lightsaber blade. "Are you going to use that, or do I need to walk into it?" She asked, eyes narrow.

He stayed there for another few moments, studying her. She felt his mind begin to push into hers and she shut him out - hard. His jaw shifted angrily.

"Can't even handle a Force Adept?" She said in a low voice, using Snoke's cutting words. She braced herself for the lightsaber to make contact, but it didn't.

"I know what you want." He said coolly after a moment. "But it's not going to be a quick death for you."

Sully was grinding her teeth, angry that he could read her without even using the force.

"I could cut your arm off right now." He said, his voice dropping an octave. "Think you could heal _that_ Matukai?"

The lift doors slid open and he stepped back. She closed her eyes, waiting for him to follow through on his threat, but when the pain came to her arm, it wasn't from a lightsaber, but from his iron grip. He dragged her down another corridor that looked the same as all the others and stopped to command a door open. He shoved her to the ground inside and she immediately clambered to her feet. She dove for the door, but it closed between them at the last moment.

"No!" She screamed fiercely, pounding on the door. "I'm done. Let me go or kill me, but _I'm done! Do you hear me?"_

The door didn't open back up.

* * *

"Get up." Kylo Ren commanded when he appeared in the doorway again. The room she'd been locked in was not the same room she'd been tortured in. It was like a closet with a cot in it. She was sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest - she refused to sit on the cot; refused to accept this place as her room.

"Don't you want to drag me?" She asked, not bothering to look up at him. She could tell by his voice that he wasn't wearing his mask.

"Get up." He repeated, his voice dangerously low. Her head whipped up to give him a challenging look. His expression didn't waver and after a moment, she stood. He stepped to the side, and she brushed past him.

"Lead the way." She murmured spitefully. The room he led her to was a training room of sorts, with matted floors and racks of weapons along the wall. Her hands clenched and unclenched as she thought of all the ways she could kill Kylo Ren with them. Why had he brought her here?

"You'll train here with me." He told her. She scoffed to cover the depth of her confusion.

"Train for what? I'm not going to be some First Order _traitor."_ She spat.

" _You're_ not training for anything." He replied, giving her a look of disdain. "You're here to fight _me._ You're the only one who fights using the Force. You'll help me to stay conditioned."

She stared at him for a minute.

"As nice as it sounds to beat you into the floor everyday, I'm not going to help you get _stronger."_ She said, eyes narrowed. She turned to walk out and heard his lightsaber ignite. She stopped and turned with a sigh.

"Go ahead. I'm not helping." She told him, her spine straightening.

"You don't have a choice." He said, approaching her.

"Of course I do. If you don't like my choice, you can just kill me." She responded calmly.

"You won't go that easily." He said confidently. Before she could respond, he swung the lightsaber in a long arc at the height of her chest. She didn't have time to step away from it, but her Force instinct kicked in and she threw herself into a backbend before dropping all the way to the floor and hooking her foot around the back of his knees. Ren fell backwards, but the hand that wasn't holding his lightsaber caught him and he kicked his legs up, flipping over in a sloppy one-handed handspring until he was on his feet again.

"Survival is in your blood." He told her, walking over to the wall to grab something.

It was her wan-shen. She stared longingly at it, if only because it was all that was familiar on this ship - her only friend. Kylo Ren's eyebrows raised in an unspoken question as he held it out for her. Could she do it? What kind of damage would her compliance bring on the resistance? On her friends?

But he wouldn't be the only one getting stronger. She would get better, too. And she would be learning him as a fighter. Discerning his weaknesses. And when the timing was right - when he was lulled into complacency - she could destroy him. Her hand wrapped around her wan-shen.


	3. Chapter 3

"Tell me your name," Ren said after they've been sparring for a few minutes. She was surprised by the question, though it wasn't much of a question. They circled each other, panting.

she thought for a moment about how she wanted to respond. Her first name, nemesi, felt too familiar to share with him but her preferred name, Sully... Poe had given her that nickname. It was her identity within the resistance. It meant something to her, and she wanted to keep it for herself while she was in this hellhole.

"Sullivan," She finally answered, swiping a hand across her forehead. He seemed like he wanted to press for a better answer, but he lunged at her instead. She blocked his lightsaber with her wan-shen and brought her knee up into his gut. He flexed his abdominal muscles and absorbed the blow. He pulled back his lightsaber again and this time swung at her from the left side. she pivoted away to block the incoming side blow, and when she did, he swiped out a leg and kicked her feet out from under her.

Because her stance hadn't been prepared, she fell flat on her back.

Ren picked up her wan-shen, which she'd dropped when she fell, and threw it across the room in a fit of annoyance.

"You still haven't slept." He said accusingly. "You're no use to me like this. Did you even eat the food you were brought?"

"When I thought I was going to be executed? No." She replied tersely, groaning as she Rose back to her feet.

"You might be if you don't start cooperating," He threatened, his expression like that of a petulant child.

"I let you throw me on my ass. What do you call that?" She argued.

"You're not supposed to let -" He began, before shaking his head and exhaling. his frustration was making him look surprisingly human. "You eat what's given to you and you sleep at night." He commanded in a low, controlled voice. "Or else the deal's off."

He brushed past her and headed for the door. She turned and watched him.

"And what happens if the deal is off?" She asked.

"Then we go back to what emperor snoke had planned for you," He answered. She didn't need to ask what that was. He snorted impatiently after a moment.

"You think I'm going to leave you here with all these weapons? Let's go."

* * *

Kylo Ren had sent a stormtrooper to fetch her the next day. The trooper dutifully led her to the training room and stood watch outside the door while she paced on the mats like a caged animal. When Ren finally entered, she stopped and turned to glare at him, her body going rigid.

"You're looking well-rested," he said as he pulled off his cloak. Sully felt a pain jolt through her jaw as she gritted her teeth, hard.

"You drugged me." She spat. She'd followed orders the evening before and eaten the tray of food that was brought to her, only because she knew she would need the food to remain strong. She hadn't intended to sleep. But she had - almost immediately after eating - and had slept straight through the night and perhaps some of the day as well. She was having trouble keeping track of time in this place. He could have easily denied it, but he didn't.

"Are you prepared to put up an actual fight today?" He asked in a flat tone, ignoring her accusation.

Boy, was she.

She walked over to the hook on the wall that held her wan-shen and grabbed it. When she turned around, Ren had lost his shirt and was waving his arms back and forth in an attempt to loosen up. She rolled her shoulders and took a defensive stance.

"No weapons." He said, looking her dead in the eye.

"What?" Sully asked, her eyebrows inching closer together.

"We fight hand-to-hand today," He elaborated briefly.

"How is that going to help you beat Skywalker?" She asked defiantly, though she threw her wan-shen down in compliance. Ren's head cocked a bit - the remark had taken him off-guard.

"Who said anything about Skywalker?" He retorted, his voice dangerously low.

"Isn't that why you want to train with a force-user?" She replied knowingly, not really answering his question. She pulled off her tunic, leaving herself in the tight training pants and wide black breast band she'd been given. she wasn't going to let him think that he could intimidate her.

"I owe you no explanations," He told her, before swiping for her head. She blocked, shuffling backwards. He went in for another swing and she grabbed his arm, yanking it upward to expose his side and bringing up a leg to kick him in the abdomen. The moves have been so swift and strong that Sully, who was easily dwarfed by Ren had knocked him onto his back several feet away. He staggered to his feet, clutching at his ribs a bit.

"How?" He asked as they began to circle each other slowly.

"How do you think?" She retorted. " You used the force when you fought me on Shaksari."

"I use it to jump- to support myself." He corrected her.

"All external uses," She said thoughtfully. "My body is one with the force."

"My _mind_ is one with the force," He immediately countered, as if it was a competition. "What did your training consist of?"

Like she was going to help him unlock more capabilities.

"Are we going to fight or are we here to talk?" She asked.

"We're here to do whatever I please." He shot back venomously.

He approached her quickly and she lashed out instinctively, striking for his face. He blocked it and grabbed the curve of her elbow, yanking her closer and knocking her off balance. He turned her around as she stumbled into him and a rigid arm wrapped across her clavicle, holding her against his chest.

"Ren," A voice from the door called. They stop struggling, and Sully glanced over to see a red-headed man with a smug look standing in the doorway with his hands folded behind his back. Ren's body went rigid and Sully could practically feel the hate rolling off of him. " Snoke wants to see you. Now."

Ren didn't move immediately and Sully decided to take advantage of the moment. In an instant, she had shifted her weight back on to him and pulled her legs up to her chest. She then kick them out and the momentum of her body coming back toward the floor pulled Kylo Ren down and right over her shoulder. He had planted his feet at the very last moment, but it didn't matter because one push of the force gave her the strength she needed to send him sprawling onto his back. She kneeled over him, a knee pressing into his chest to keep him down. She wasn't surprised when her airway suddenly slammed shut, but her body reacted anyway, her hands coming up to clutch at her neck .

"You can use the force for your little workouts all you want, but you'll never be able to match power like this. Do not forget it." He told her, his voice much more controlled than the fury spinning in his eyes. He let her struggle for a few more moments before releasing her. She fell to the floor, coughing. Before she could get her bearings, Ren was fully dressed again and was storming toward the door. He stopped for a moment, contemplating something.

"I'll make sure she gets back," the red-haired man said. Ren said nothing more as he exited. " Are you quite finished?" The man asked her after her coughing died down, as if she was being dramatic.

"He must really hate you," She rasped, still sitting on the floor, her elbows resting on her knees.

"He must really hate _you_ ," The man retorted.

"I was just doing my job. The only reason he got so upset is because I did it in front of you and made him look weak." She argued.

"Right. Your job. Because you're Ren's new project."

"His new punching bag, you mean?" She asked, rubbing her neck.

"Come on. Up you go." He ordered, his voice clipped. She didn't move.

"I need to spend more than five minutes a day outside of that closet. Especially if he wants me to stay limber." She said, nodding toward the door Ren had just exited through. The man raised an eyebrow and she felt her face heat up when she realized the potential double meaning of what she had said. " I could stay in here a bit longer. Can't you just... Watch me?" She continued.

"Watch you?" He repeated incredulously. " I'm a general with the first order."

She bit the inside of her cheek and glanced around, trying to come up with a more convincing proposition. The general sighed.

"Want some food that isn't laced with sleeping serum?" He asked after a moment, surprising her.

"That depends," She replied. "What is it laced with instead?"

The man rolled his eyes and turned away from her, walking out the door. Sully scrambled to her feet and followed him, scooping up her tunic along the way.

* * *

She had followed him (Taking two steps for every one of his) to some kind of mess hall, and tried to make note of every turn and every Corridor they passed. Now that she hadn't been killed, she needed to start thinking about how she might get out of this place and back to the resistance.

Once in the mess hall, he had led her through a line (well, they had cut to the front of the line) and they both got a tray of food. She hadn't really expected him to eat with her, but she supposed he couldn't leave her unattended so he might as well. Then again, there were dozens of Stormtroopers eating around them that he could command to escort her to her cell. And yet, he led her to an empty table and she sat down across from him.

"So does the general have a name?" She asked after they had eaten in silence for a few minutes. He glanced up at her, unamused, and then back at his tray as he took another bite.

"Hux." He answered begrudgingly after a moment. She had thought as much, having heard some about him in the resistance.

"General Hux," She repeated, considering it. " I'm Sullivan."

"It's inconsequential, really," He replied.

"True enough." She murmured, focusing back on her food.

"You're really a Matukai?" He asked, studying her.

"That's what they tell me." She answered, brushing the question off.

"Where are the others?" He asked. Her eyes shot up to meet his, narrowing in suspicion. What others? The resistance?

" The Matukai," He clarified. "I've never met one. Thought they were thing of the past."

Sully's shoulders relax a bit.

"I don't know," She replied honestly.

"You're the only one in the resistance?" He asked, as casually as one might ask a person if they have siblings. Sully laid her fork down on her tray with a resounding _clink_ and leaned forward on her forearms to look in firmly in the eye.

"I bet it would make you look really good to get intel on the resistance that Ren couldn't, huh?" She wondered aloud. His expression fell a bit. "I would rather take the sleeping serum, honestly," She told him bluntly. " I'm ready to return to my room."

She put a sarcastic twinge on the word "room." Hux stared at her for a moment, his tongue pressed into his cheek in frustration.

"TK-8294." He called out. A stormtrooper at a nearby table got up and approached them, standing at attention. "Take Miss Sullivan back to her designated quarters," Hux ordered.

The Stormtrooper hustled back to his table and grabbed his helmet. When he returned, Sully was rising from her seat. He grabbed her arm and she gave him a deadly look, causing him to let go. She walked off with the stormtrooper without another glance back at the general.

Sully spent the rest of the afternoon and evening meditating in her quarters. She was trying something she hadn't tried in years- something that used to make her cry tears of frustration growing up: she wanted to talk to Poe. To somehow make a connection with him, using the force.

She allowed her mind to be flooded with thoughts of him. The routine he would be going through at this time of the day. The sound of his voice. The expression on his face when she told him a joke that took him off guard. The wrinkles around his eyes when he laughed. The wrinkles around his mouth when she worried him. Two things made her meditation difficult. One was that she was trying to keep her mental barriers rock-solid at the same time - she didn't want anyone to know what she was attempting. The second thing was that the memories she was stirring up we're causing inner turmoil for her.

When she decided that she couldn't try another moment more, she laid down and fell asleep, against her better judgement, her dreams filled with images of Poe.


End file.
